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Workplace harassment is "rife" in the retail sector and symptomatic of an "inherent" power imbalance that will take strong action to address, a researcher says.

University of Sydney and Australian National University research – which draws on survey responses from 1,160 retail employees and interviews with 30 industry leaders – has found one in five employees have been sexually harassed at work in the past five years, most commonly by a senior colleague or customer.

Lead author and director of The Gender Equality in Working Life Research Initiative, Professor Rae Cooper, says an "inherent power imbalance" exists in the industry. The work is undervalued and poorly paid; the fact workers don't feel respected contributes to "persistent issues" of both sexual harassment and customer abuse. These behaviours are most commonly directed at women who, despite accounting for the majority (57%) of the retail workforce, hold only 27% of board positions and 17% of CEO roles...